Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

Hector paused by the young man and dropped to one knee, scooping up the pill. He rolled it around his fingers; the red wisps swirled beneath its black surface, like drowning snakes.

"What's that?" Emela asked, stopping next to him. Her eyes moved from the pill to the door, where the man lay crushed.

"It's one of the Ham pills. I've been a little concerned that they had either a large stockpile of these or were getting them from another source."

Hector pushed off his knee and got to his feet. He dropped the pill, and as it bounced off the floor, he slammed his foot down, crushing it. There was no need to keep anything like that around.

"I see." Emela turned her head. Her gaze moved down the hall.

It was fairly narrow, made of rotting wood, with the stink of piss and mildew wafting around. Somehow, the sickly smell was worse than the Scoda gang's hideout. Hector adjusted his mask, trying not to breathe too deeply.

"I guess he isn't planning on waiting for us," Emela said, glancing back at Hector. "I thought you said we were supposed to be used as bait."

"Perhaps that's it." Hector walked deeper down the hall, the rotting floorboards groaning with each step. "Maybe he's hoping we draw more attention than he will all alone."

From down the hallway, shouts sounded. "We are under attack! Pull back now!" a voice yelled.

Hector picked up speed, his heart racing as his steps became heavier. He couldn't let them reach a room where they could barricade themselves. Sieging the safehouse was not the plan. He'd rather burn it to the ground. [Blazing Arsenal] would be more than enough to do that.

Turning a corner, Hector spotted a group of men running up some stairs. P was nowhere to be seen. Had he taken another direction? There was another turn a few steps back, but Hector wanted to get to the voices.

Narrowing his eyes, Hector took a step—a shoulder slammed into his side and he bounced off the ground, someone clinging to him. Before he could get his bearings, a fist cracked into his jaw. Though it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have. He probably had [Iron Skin] to thank for that. But the blow was disorienting, if only a little.

Hector raised his arms. A second blow, cracking straight into them, caused his block to buckle. It was a good punch. But not good enough. He peeked through his arms as the man atop him reeled back. A wave of static exploded off Hector, surging through the man's skin, jumping through his clothes and causing his teeth to chatter.

Even as the man tried to fight through it, Hector's fist slammed into his cheek. The blow knocked the man to the side, giving Hector the chance to roll away. The hit wasn't clean, but it had done the job. Hopping to his feet, Hector darted toward the man.

His eyes went wide as Hector raised his foot and kicked him in the chest, sending him staggering back into a wall with a thud. The old wood cracked a little, dust falling from the ceiling and coating the man's hair.

"Hector!" Emela rushed around the corner, Nyx a few paces behind. "Are you alright?" she asked him, her head turning to the man, her eyes narrowing as she stepped closer to Hector.

Getting back to his feet and clutching at his chest, the man sneered. It seems he still had some fight left in him. A stomp to the chest would have put most people out for a few minutes.

A roar echoed through the building as the man took a step.

Before he could so much as move an inch, the wall erupted, wood and stone showered down, as a thick plume of dust filled the space. Had someone just set off a bomb?

The cracking of bone, followed by a scream, cut through the chaos.

Through the fog of dust, a hulking form gripped the arms of the man who had been standing there a few seconds earlier.

Hector took a step back as another crack split the air, and the man let out a whimper. Standing at his side, Emela turned to him.

"What in the Great Lake is that thing?" she asked.

Nyx moved next to Emela. The black-haired girl dropped into a fighting stance.

System, scan it.

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///: Target has been identified. Gravity Forging-Seven. Unstable. No Talent fragments have been found.
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Hector's eyes snapped wide. Raising his arms, he ushered Emela and Nyx back. They were not nearly strong enough to deal with something like this. "You two need to run," he said, his eyes glued to the thing.

As the dust settled, Emela turned to him. "What do you mean, run?"

Before Hector could reply, the creature swung its arms to the side. The man he had been fighting moments before flew away and crashed into a far wall. He didn't move.

From the creature, black smoke seeped. It curled off its skin in thin wisps, floating into the sky and gathering with other wisps, forming a fog of black.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"That thing is at least Gravity Forging-Seven. It's more than enough to rip us apart."

The creature—maybe once a man—turned to them, its black, smouldering eyes taking them in. Rattling the wood, the creature let out a roar, cracking the planks underneath as it shot toward them. Hector shoved Emela to the side as purple crackled across his skin, and he threw a knife at the thing.

Like a pebble, it bounced straight off, but it achieved his goal. As he turned and ran, the creature chased after him, shaking the building as he moved. This thing was not something he could take on in a straight fight. The man from earlier was weaker than him, yes—but not by much.

"Hector!" Emela's scream reached his ears as he turned a corner. But he couldn't turn back, not unless he wanted to be turned into a fine paste. He could use the [Volt Runner] Talent, but that carried its own risk. If he couldn't stop this thing before the Talent ran out, he'd be in the same position he was in now.

A few moments later, feet pounding against the floorboards, Hector stumbled to the left. The hulking figure shot right past him, shredding through the wall like it was paper. What sounded like a few more walls breaking came from the hole it left in its wake, but Hector didn't stay around to see. He had a moment to breathe, and that was all that mattered.

"Oi, you." Two Collar gang thugs stood down the hall; one had his hand raised, pointing at Hector. "You better give up if you know what's good for you."

The distant sound of collapsing walls drew closer, the floorboards shaking with each break. The thugs both frowned in confusion as Hector got closer. They probably thought it was he who was making all that racket, but they'd be sorely mistaken.

As he closed in on the two, Hector dived forward. His pants scraped against the floorboards as the two thugs reached to grab him. But as the static field washed over them, their bodies slowed, and Hector slid by, stumbling to his feet a second later.

Before the two could give chase, the side wall exploded, and the hulking man, black smoke swirling around him, debris peppering him, slammed into the first man. He backhanded the second, slamming the poor fool into a wall with a sickening crunch.

What the hell is that thing? It came from here, but I doubt the Collar Gang just keeps crazed freaks around that go on random killing sprees. It has to be something he's taken.

His legs pumping, Hector's mind went back to the man he'd fought just over a week ago outside the abandoned brewery. In a way, he'd been like this. Only a lot more in control. So was it the Ham pills, then?

Turing right, and slamming into a wall, Hector clawed at the rotting wood, catching a door frame and righting himself. A roar bellowed behind him, sending waves through his body. The sensation rang in his chest. What had the system said? It was unstable. Is that why this man had gone insane?

The wall shattered behind him, spitting out splinters of wood as the creature rammed straight through it. Hector staggered, but stayed on his feet. Slightly ajar, a door down the hall caught Hector's eye. It wasn't much, but one more wall between him and that thing had to be a good thing.

Ducking into the room, Hector dove to the floor and rolled. The building shook a moment later, as more walls broke in the distance. This place wouldn't hold up for long if that thing kept going like that.

A crisp slap broke Hector from his thoughts, and his head snapped to the noise. Clothes ragged and splotched with specks of red, P stood over a man, his hand gripping the man's throat. A steady drizzle bounced off the window in this room as the overcast sky wept.

What was he doing?

"Where is it!" P demanded. Another crisp slap bounced off the man's cheek. Had P not seen him roll into the room just now?

"I don't know," the man groaned through swollen lips.

A second crisp slap cut across the man's cheek, and he let out a whimper. This man was a mortal. There was no way P could handle anyone close to his level with such ease.

Hector got to one knee and pushed off, coming to his feet. "Hey… I…"

The words he was going to say stalled in his throat. What P was doing was wrong. But could Hector judge? Did this Collar Gang thug deserve softer treatment?

A part of Hector was sure the answer was no. After all, people like him had killed his father. But that was just it. His father. The man wouldn't have wanted Hector to deal out cruelty wantonly. That was the 'easy' path.

What the hell do I even do here?

P's head shot up. And he fixed an annoyed gaze on Hector. "I don't have time for you. Go run along and get in someone else's way. I have business to do."

Hector blinked at the boy. He didn't have time for him? What did that mean? They were here together; from what Claire had said—which was probably a lie—they were working as a team.

Another heavy slap split the air as the man let out a groan. His eyes fell shut.

"Wake up, wake up, you little piece of trash!" P yelled at the man.

A sinking feeling plunged through Hector's chest as a distant roar shook the walls. Of course, it had heard them. Hector considered warning the boy, but he wouldn't do the same for him. Of that, Hector was more than sure.

Hector raised a foot, swivelling towards the door. But before he could, the corner wall exploded in a shower of debris. The large man didn't halt in the slightest. As he moved, his foot cracked down onto the man P had been interrogating with a sickening crunch, and his shoulder slammed into the Scoda gang boy.

Sailing through the air, P smacked into the far wall, crunching into the wood and slumping onto the ground. The monster let out a heavy breath; black strands of smoke twisted from his blackened lips, wisping into the air, gathering as part of the black fog around him.

Underfoot, the building shook. The creature wasn't moving, so that could only mean one thing. The place was coming down. And Hector couldn't be in it when it did. Hector reached for the back of his mind. If this place was going down anyway, so what if it burned a little?

He pulled on [Blazing Arsenal] and in tandem, he also pulled on his [Volt Runner] Talent, static sparking through his legs, jumping through his clothes. The creature exploded forward, and Hector narrowly dodged it. To the right of the room, a pool of fire bloomed to life, washing across the floor.

Flaring to life, a fireball formed in seconds. Before the creature could fully turn around, one ball ripped free of the pool's influence and slammed into the creature, erupting in a burst of flame, washing over its form and frying its skin.

But as the flames cleared, the creature's eyes only seemed to grow more crazed. The flames had done nothing. Maybe a light burn at most. That had been the same strength of an attack that had almost killed Hector, but against it, it did barely anything.

It couldn't be for real; his cultivation realm heavily influenced the strength of his Talents. But was the disparity between them that bad? In a burst of movement, the creature charged forward.

The thing was fast off the mark, but slowed down as it moved. That had been the only reason he'd been able to avoid it—that and throwing in some turns. Leaping to the side and rolling across the floor, Hector barely dodged out of the way. The creature smashed through the wall yet again, narrowly missing P, who sat motionless.

A shout split through the dust, but it wasn't from the creature. "Ahhhhh, I don't have time to deal with something like this right now. You know what, screw it."

Leaning to the side, Hector tried to peer into the darkness. Through the thinning cloud of dust, he could make out shelves and maybe a few boxes. But before he could get a better look, something cracked above him as the floor began to split and give way.